The pizza looks like it came out really well. I had not thought of combining bacon and VT pepperoni. That sounds really good. I might have to borrow that from you. What brand of apple wood smoked bacon did you use?

What sort of flavor did the crust have?

Craig,

The pizza did turn out well, but as you probably know I will be experimenting with the formulation more. I am glad you suggested I should try a regular pizza. The apple wood bacon was from a stand holder at market that makes their own apple wood bacon. It is really good, but about 7 something a lb. It was only about 2.00 for the 5 pieces of apple wood bacon I used. You can borrow the apple wood smoked bacon and Vermont Smoke Pepperoni anytime. I have learned a lot from you.

I really canít explain how the crust tasted exactly right, but it had notes of some kind of grains. It wasnít like whole wheat, but different. The crust didnít have any smoky or grassy flavor either.

Norma, if you send me the xls file, I will open it and post it in this thread. I will PM you my email.

Pizza looks really tasty, and the crust looks unusual to me. Kind of grainy, toothy, and strong? Did it have a pronounced flavor to it, like rye or whole wheat does?

Brian,

I will send you the whole email. Thanks so much. I think part of the Excel file opened, but am not sure. I wanted to see what protein the Freekeh flour is.

The crust was tender. It didn't appear to be grainy at all to me. It didn't have a strong taste either. Steve and I were trying to decide what it tasted like, but couldn't decide. The crust didn't have a proncounced flavor either. I wish I could describe how it tasted, but can't.

I emailed Thomasina some of the pictures of the freekeh pizza from yesterday this morning. This is the email I received from Thomasina this afternoon. Thomasina send me the sheet in a PDF file now.

Norma - I'm resending the protein/moisture/ash data as a pdf file. The pizza looks outstanding. The smoked bacon and pepperioni with the freekeh flour (which can have a smoky/nutty flavor must have been a delicious combination. Again, good that you fermented it for a few days. Not sure what other flour you used, but freekeh flour tends to give you a thin crust.....which I love. Have you tested it on clients? Best - Thomasina

I wonder what Thomasina means by the freekeh flour is good for a thin crust pizza. I donít know what kind of formulation to try the freekeh flour in a thin crust pizza.

I think I now know that the crust yesterday did have sort of a nutty flavor, after Thomasina mentioned that. I didnít taste any smoky flavor though.

Maybe she is saying it doesn't develop a lot of gluten, so the crusts it makes tend to be thin as they don't rise a lot?

Craig,

You are probably right that since the freekeh flour doesnít develop a lot of gluten it is more suited to be made into a thin crust. The dough did form gluten with another flour added though and fermented okay. I sure donít know how a pizza could be made with just the freekeh flour, but maybe I am not understanding any of this stuff right.

I might have to ask Thomasina what she meant. I still canít figure out why the protein says what it does. There is no way that I know of that it can be that high.

I still canít figure out why the protein says what it does. There is no way that I know of that it can be that high.

Norma,

I think that you have to look at the freekeh flour much like you would look at whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flours routinely have a protein content of around 15%. But that doesn't mean that the gluten levels will be high. Maybe you can do a wet gluten test sometime to see what you end up with. Whole wheat flours also have wheat germ and bran that interfere with good gluten formation. As scott123 once noted at Reply 313 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11044.msg102526/topicseen.html#msg102526, the bran in whole wheat can do a number on the gluten.

I think that you have to look at the freekeh flour much like you would look at whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flours routinely have a protein content of around 15%. But that doesn't mean that the gluten levels will be high. Maybe you can do a wet gluten test sometime to see what you end up with. Whole wheat flours also have wheat germ and bran that interfere with good gluten formation. As scott123 once noted at Reply 313 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,11044.msg102526/topicseen.html#msg102526, the bran in whole wheat can do a number on the gluten.

Peter

Peter,

Thanks for your thoughts that I will have to look at the freekeh flour much like I would look at whole wheat flours. I didnít know whole wheat flours routinely have a protein content of around 15%. I guess I have problems looking at the protein number and then knowing that the gluten level wonít be as high. I will try to do a wet gluten test sometime on the freekeh flour, but can imagine it might want to fall apart. I forgot about what Scott123 posted about the bran in wheat, even if ground fine, will be like little knives slicing though the gluten framework. I didnít even know that whole wheat flours have wheat germ and bran in them. I guess I havenít played around enough with whole wheat flours, but do know that can take a high hydration from the few doughs I made with them.

I also sent Thomasina another email and asked her if there are any formulations for a thin crust pizza with the freekeh flour.